The Toronto Maple Leafs are at a crucial point of their season. The point before the race for Stanley.
It is a near certainty that the Toronto Maple Leafs will make the playoffs.(The Athletics Dom Luszczyszyn has them at 97.4% to make it).
Even before the season, most hockey fans around the league assumed that it would be Toronto, Tampa, and Boston as the three Atlantic seeds. However, people much figured that Tampa would again be the top seed, leaving Toronto facing the Bruins for the third straight post-season. Nobody expected how the first half of the season would go for any of the teams involved.
For the first half of the season (besides the last 10 or so games), the Tampa Bay Lightning were on somewhat of a shocking spiral. After getting swept in the first round of the playoffs in which everyone thought would end with a Cup, many expected they would come out swinging. But, they did not.
Tampa, much like the Toronto Maple Leafs, did the opposite. Both the Leafs and Lightning spent the first half of the season floundering up and down the standings, before somewhat hitting their strides.
While they were floundering, the Bruins were streaking. Even though the Bruins have 12 loser points (okay fine, OTL points), they were still doing extremely well before that. The question is now to be begged of which team would present the bigger challenge come April. Oh, and the question all of Leafs Nation probably wants to know: which team would be easier to beat?
The Boston Bruins
Nobody wants to go through the horrors of years past. Like the Toronto Raptors who were stuck facing Lebron James and the Cavs every year in the playoffs, the Toronto Maple Leafs face a common opponent in the Boston Bruins.
If you’re a Leafs fan, (which, if you’re reading this, you probably are) then you know the heartbreak which has come with back to back game 7 losses.
That kind of loss can sometimes mess with a team’s confidence, which is why I’m hesitant to say the Bruins are the optimal round one scenario. At the time this article was written, the Leafs are 10 points back of the Bruins with one game in hand. Chances are, unless the Lightning go on another ridiculous run, that the Bruins would be a round two opponent.
However, the possibility must still be considered that the Leafs will face the big, bad Bruins for a third year in a row.
If this happens, chances are that it will yet again be the Bruins with home ice. But, that may not be a bad thing. They do say that the third time is the charm, and imagine the sweet feeling that would come with eliminating Boston on their own ice.
And, you know what, it’s doable. We can beat Boston, I mean last year we almost did, it was right there. But, to do that we will need a few things. We’ll need Andersen to stand on his head, much like Rask has in years past. We’ll need the blue-line to be better than it has been.
And, this one goes without saying, but we’ll need the big boys to step it up a whole other level.
The Tampa Bay Lightning
The Tampa Bay Lightning were in similar waters to the Toronto Maple Leafs most of the season.
Both teams were thought to be the powerhouses of the division, and yet, at the beginning, they both floundered. Now, recently they’ve both gone on pretty solid runs, cementing them at second and third in the Atlantic division.
If the Bruins hadn’t been getting those so-called “loser” points, these two teams would probably be seed 1 and 2. However, this scenario is looking much more likely to be the one in which the Leafs will face come April.
If this is the case, I personally welcome the challenge.
The Leafs have not faced Tampa in the playoffs, and both teams are loaded with skill – would make for an interesting series for sure.
The team would not have the jitters of facing Boston in round one, and so the nerves should be subsided for most of the team.
This would be my personal optimal situation for the Leafs come round one of the playoffs, as I feel it gives them the best chance to win. And hey, maybe this will help them get over the proverbial “hump” of the first round eliminations. Which, to be honest, I think we would all want.